Tanglewood Numbers - Silver Jews
User Score
9.2 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 22 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22

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  1. nofriendofyours
    Oct 19, 2005
    10
    Great stuff,man
  2. JoeS
    Oct 20, 2005
    10
    Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  3. AndyR
    Oct 25, 2005
    10
    Berman betters American Water? it can't be true. It is. 34 and a half minutes of dry, wry heaven. Thanks guys, again.
  4. timothym
    Jan 29, 2006
    10
    dc is my hero
  5. romanmc
    Feb 27, 2006
    10
    You will not be dissapointed. Berman flat-out embarrasses anyone else out there trying to compete with him in lyrical craft. The music is varied on this outing as well. A much fuller pallete than other albums.
  6. BrainZ
    Dec 12, 2005
    10
    He's back, niggers.
  7. JohnA
    Nov 12, 2005
    10
    "Pony is ailing and needs to be shot." Raul Julia needs to be shot for writing that! Sometimes a Pony Gets Depressed is the best track on a record full of brilliance. When Berman writes, "Grass from a pasture is sharper than a bayonet," you either get or you don't...and I don't think RJ gets it. It's too early to know if this effort from the Jews will hold up to the sheer genuis of American Water, but it's a great attempt nonetheless. Every time DC Berman and crew release a record it's an event and moment in time worth noting where your life was at at that moment.… Expand
  8. CrileyL
    Oct 19, 2005
    9
    Awesome return to a full band sound for the Jews, more rocking than previous efforts.
  9. Henry
    Oct 23, 2005
    9
    The Sliver Jews do it again! This is a really good album. it's good to hear DCB sounding like he's having some fun and as usual, writing great music.
  10. MatthewP
    Oct 28, 2005
    9
    This album rocks where the other Joos albums rolled. The keyboards are a weird, cool touch.
  11. KrisB
    Feb 9, 2006
    8
    It's no American Water, but it'll do. Something is missing this time around, and i think it's probably because of the absence of Steven Malkmus.
  12. marbles
    Dec 7, 2005
    8
    I have read a lot of harsh reviews and that's too bad. granted the silver jews do not jump out at you and assault you with super sonic rifs. they require a more mature, patient taste. few bands out there today bother to make their music mean somthing, and that is why the silver jews are still refreshing. my biggest complaint is that it isn't very long.
  13. RaulJulia
    Nov 6, 2005
    7
    After several listens it is obvious this is a decent Silver Jews album, and not a great outing. I love Punks in the Beerlight to the max. Pony is ailing and needs to be shot. K-hole sounds like a Mike Watt throw-off. Animal shapes sounds like a Smile track. I could go on, but I'd rather listen to some earlier Jews. Perhaps American Water. Ahh, that's better. blah blahh blah
  14. DuderR
    Oct 18, 2005
    6
    A bit of a let down after a four year wait. The album has a studio sound with tracks that sound more like Dire Straits than anything you've ever heard from Berman before. I'm sure a lot of longtime fans will be put off by this but that's not really my complaint with this album. It sounds great but Berman's characteristic poetic wit seems to have abandoned him. Perhaps he intentionaly jettisoned it along with the sad, addictive depressive side of himself that damn near killed him last year in order to produce this happier radio friendly rock N' roll album. Unfortunately I fear that side of him may have been the side responsible for his dark and trenchant self depricating humor and his all-too-close-to-home soul baring lyrics that deliver a very personal and macabre thrill for Silver Jews fans. Berman's lyrics have always stradled the line between tounge- in-cheek camp and outright maudlin and mawkish, but this time he has fallen over the fence and landed squarely on the wrong side. With a scant few exceptions Berman's formerly original poetic wittisims have been replaced with unctuous tired platitudes and cliches. That being said, its not an entirely bad album, its far from being unlistenable and there are probably a few keepers here for the longtime Jews fan. Still better than your average Alt-Country/folkie indie rock album.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
81 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 32 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 32
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 32
  3. Negative: 0 out of 32
  1. Dusted Magazine
    40
    If another band were to serve up the fiddling strings and lollygagging vocal harmonies of “Animal Shapes,” the wanky guitar breakdowns of “The Poor, The Fair, and the Good,” perhaps Tanglewood Numbers wouldn’t feel like such a disappointment. But Berman’s a brilliant lyricist with 30 or 40 minutes to spare every couple of years, and his voice seems oddly absent from this record.
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  2. All Music Guide
    90
    A uniquely powerful and moving set of songs.
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  3. Amazon.com
    90
    A record that is wholly satisfying: not too overwrought and never self-assuredly slick.
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